Forbes reporter, Tom Angell reports: "A key U.S. Senate committee says that marijuana's current federal classification blocks scientific research on its effects -- something that legalization advocates have long argued."

Canadians, and indeed patients from around the world, cannot underestimate the impact that the U.S. classification of marijuana has on the pace of advancement within the field of cannabinoid medicine.

Angell explains: "Schedule I is the most restrictive category under federal law, and is supposed to be reserved for drugs with a high potential for abuse and no medical value. Researchers wishing to study substances classified there must overcome procedural hurdles that don't exist for other drugs."

"The committee's criticism of Schedule 1 roadblocks to marijuana research provides more momentum to the effort to reclassify cannabis under federal law."